It Feeds On The Blood, It Feeds On The Heat

[itstillhurt]

Who: Azula and various CR
Which: Noctaere Plot Log (Closed)
Where: Various locations in Reverein, the Wastelands and Interactive Dreamscapes
What: On the night of the 21st, the heat becomes unbearable. A thunderstorm rolls over Reverein, but there's no rain- posing its own problems when lightning strikes the dry earth. The shape of a bird made of blue flame can be seen fleeing from the village, but the weather disturbances remain, as does the damage it's causing. Fires are a serious concern. The unnatural storms will last until the end of the 22nd. After that, the unnatural dry and intense thunderstorm will subside into a normal heavy rainfall.

Warnings: A lot of violence, possibly including arson and burns. Also some examination of a backstory including abuse, neglect, war crimes, and themes of genocide.

Comments

[uncle_iroh]

"What point do you usually see in fighting me?" he asked, sounding somewhat bland.

[itstillhurt]

[The blades digging into and then being roughly removed from the Noctaere's body finally produce a sound- a cry of pain that is unmistakably Azula's voice, albeit unnaturally distorted.

It's the only vocalization the Noctaere makes- it doesn't respond directly to the taunt, but it certainly responds to the pain, reeling back and flaring its wings, throwing out random gouts of flame in every direction.

Once the initial pain response finishes, though, it changes tactics- flying back into the sky, sending arcs of blue flame toward him with each rapid beat of its wings, trying to overwhelm him with the endless torrent of fire.]

[najaran]

Najaran does her best to dodge the flames as she raced in and gathered Azula into a tight hug, clinging to her. "I am here, I'll help you! Whatever this is, you're not alone! We'll get through this!"

[lemoncandy]

( Her younger self again. Shealtiel pauses for a moment, looking down the tunnel. This is the first time he's been able to do anything so purposefully in this world, he feels like, and he doesn't want to screw it up.

He wonders what Azula's younger self really means to her. It feels familiar, like how he sees his own younger self in the mirror whenever he looks, but it also feels wrong to assume that he could ever understand. He certainly doesn't feel like anyone could understand him, at least...

Shealtiel steps into the tunnel, scanning for the sight of her. )

To help. Or... at least that's what I'm hoping to do.

[itstillhurt]

[As before, there's no answer. No words, no sounds at all save for the flapping of wind and the rush of fire being thrown.

The Noctaere flaps its wings, and twin arcs of tightly focused blue flame arc toward the Persona with intense, cutting force. It dives after the fire with claws outstretched, ready to attack it while it's still occupied with the initial volley.]

[itstillhurt]

"How many times do I have to tell you-"

The vision Azula starts to say, then stops, sighs, and begins... moving her hands. It's clumsy and awkward, but the two figures in the memory begin talking with hand signs.

The present Azula seems to snap out of a reverie and gives Iroh a flat look, too drained to muster her usual frustration.

"My mission was to retrieve you. That's all."

After a moment, she adds-

"So what's your, mission, I wonder? To distract me, so somebody out there can finish me off? I suppose that would keep your hands clean. You seem to favor that."

cw: Burns and choking

[itstillhurt]

Azula braces herself, as if anticipating violence- but Najaran doesn't attack her. She just... holds her. Tightly. Urgently. Ignoring the uncontrollable plumes of fire that continue to flicker wildly from her skin.

...what-

For a moment, she simply freezes, and the flames that keep bursting from her skin seem to calm to a light blue vapor of smoke that gently curls off of her limbs. The searing light in her eyes gently recedes, though they remain unnaturally bright blue rather than her usual gold.

The calm lasts only a few seconds. And then a strange, stabbing panic sets in.

why-

She doesn't know why. Except that this already happened with Shealtiel, and she'd hurt him- she'd hurt Shealtiel- she couldn't control it- Monster- like that's anything new- All you your life- not helpful not useful shut UP- Sooner or later- don't say it- they all realize what you are- No. Then. They. Leave.

The panic and erratic heartbeat suddenly become intense, the stabbing pain giving way to an intense heat, a fire burning her up from the inside, and she screams in pain as she suddenly erupts in intense fire, covering her entire body.

With unnatural speed and strength, her arm lashes out and snatches Najaran's neck in her burning hand, wrenching her into the air with impossible power and holding her aloft. The flames lick up her arm, burning Najaran's neck in her grasp.

She snarls in fury, her voice unnaturally distorted and barely recognizable.

"I said... get... away."

After a few terrible moments, she hurls her back across the ground.

[itstillhurt]

Why?

[The tunnel looks much like the cityscape above- exactly as he would remember it from Tanabata, but neglected for what seems like years, tattered and in ruins. There's no sign of Azula- the older or the younger. Just darkness.]

Why would you do anything for her?

[The darkness gives way as he reaches The Underground. It clearly has no power, the lights are all dark and mostly broken, and yet there's an odd blue glow, as if something in the air itself were providing a faint illumination to see by. Predictably, as above, the decorations are all tattered and decaying. The buildings are neglected and some have begun to fall apart. The carts and stalls are in disrepair, food and drink either in ignored piles or strewn haphazardly across the ground, rotting. The foliage of the gardens and trees are all long dead from lack of maintenance, including the bamboo Tanabata trees in the square. The slips of paper tied to them have mostly fallen, and now litter the ground around them.

There's still no sign of Azula or the child.]

[uncle_iroh]

"One of the great things about being an outcast of the Fire Nation is that there is no one to give me missions anymore," he said, as if mildly amused. "I still have much work to do, but the pace is my own. As for keeping my hands clean, I suppose the question is what the dirt would be. Digging in a garden, for example, is worth dirtying one's hands."

Re: cw: Burns and choking

[najaran]

Najaran grappled with the hand that held her by the neck, and had no defense when she was tossed aside.

Well, none that she offered. She could have used a Card but...

"Hey, dad?"
"What is it, Naja?"
"Why didn't you take care of those guys with your Cards?"
"Because drawing a Card against a non-Cepter is cowardly."

As always, her father's words are like a guiding light for Najaran. Perhaps because she had so few of them.

So while she could have had Knight stop Azula, she wouldn't have. Even if they weren't friends.

But since they were friends...

Najaran lurched, pushing to her feet. "No..." she said, trying to keep herself from touching the burns at her throat. Dear Culdra it hurt. But if it hurt her, how much worse must Azula be hurting?

She launched herself back at Azula for another hug.

"You're my friend! And I'm going to help you, whatever it takes!"

[itstillhurt]

"Hm. And how about killing a monster, would that be worth it?"

She doesn't look at him as she says it. She stares at the memory, the two figures making hand signs back and forth in silence.

"I tried to tell him, you know. What I was. He refused to believe me."

She tries to keep her voice even. It doesn't seem to work. Not in here, not in her own dreamscape.

[itstillhurt]

The fire wreathing her body is brighter and hotter, and her eyes are glowing with painful intensity. Massive flickers of blue fire seem to be coalescing around her, spreading further and further, and if she's still in pain, she's no longer giving any sign of it.

This time, Azula says nothing. She simply responds by silently throwing a blast of flame- bright, intense, a burst of kinetic force as much as heat, meant to throw Najaran back again.

[uncle_iroh]

"Why would he? When you don't seem to? How can anyone know who you are, until you know who you are?"

Oh he was so full of it. And yet...

[najaran]

And back Najaran went flying again. And again, she forced herself up, and ran to hug Azula again.

[itstillhurt]

"... whatever else you may believe of me, Uncle, I've always been well aware that I was a monster."

It's the most harsh that her tone has gotten since he arrived, the first indication of actual anger rather than simple weary bitterness, but it fades almost immediately- not with the unnatural practice of her impassive mask. Instead, it's as if she simply expended all the energy she had.

"I know what I am," she repeats, quietly.

And that's when the Azula in the memory suddenly stops in shock, staring at the boy on the fountain beside her in surprise for a moment... and then slowly slumps over, obviously crying, just as obviously trying to hide it and failing.

After a moment, he boy slowly places his hand over hers in the memory. She stops, stares at his hand... and slowly turns her hand to clasp his, clutching it tightly as she cries.

And the present Azula suddenly looks away from the memory, her own eyes clearly beginning to fill with tears.

"Just... tell me what it is you want from me, Uncle, or leave me alone." After a moment, her voice shaking, she adds, "...please."

[uncle_iroh]

"Your brother was sure he knew what he was for a long time, and he was wrong. I'm not saying that you are wrong. But I am not saying you are right either. But since this is the first time I have heard you use that word in a long time without a sneer or sarcasm, I'll do what you asked. Especially since one thing we both know you aren't... is stupid enough to attack me while my back is turned." At least, not again.

And with that he turned and started walking away from her. And towards the memory version of her.

[whatsamada]

[With no response, Ken didn't know if that was his friend(?) or not. Either way, he couldn't allow it to keep on attacking him. As Kala-Nemi rushes over in an attempt to use its entire body to knock it down, there was still some hesitation.]

Azula-san, say something! That is you, isn't it?

[toph_luck]

[ Great...Some kind of weird... Azula monster. So just Azula. But this one can fly.

Her body's already aching fromt he blast, but she just grunts and powers through it, pushing herself back with a wave of rock after the first blast of flame scorches one of her legs. She cant find it!

Pushing, pushing, listening for the wingbeats in her struggle before she feels like it's safe enough to spin around and throw up a wall of stone between herself and the blasts. Then another, and another, until there's several layers of stone shielding around her.

Okay, breath. Breath Toph. Where is it... ]

[holdshisown]

[Battle madness, or something so alike it as to make little difference in any case. If she were not flying around and engulfed in flames he would simply grab her and hold her until it passed. He's not sure what he can do as things stand.

Worse still, is his own mental state. For all that he's been able to hold up a good facade around here he is not well, and the fire around him is not doing him many favors. He has to press down memories of the Bragollach and the Nirnaeth so as not to lose himself in them. She is not a dragon or balrog, he can't kill her... he must remember that.

As she approaches again, breathing fire at him he makes the decision to drop his sword, it is more a liability than a help by now and he doesn't want to risk lashing out on instinct. He'll have to simply rely on his agility to keep himself from harm.]

I will not harm you! But you must calm yourself!

[There is fire in him as well, kept under the same iron clad control that kept him sane enough in Angband. But that control is slipping now and it shows in his eyes that are beginning to glow like two white-hot embers.]

[itstillhurt]

Azula doesn't respond with fire. Her face becomes oddly more flat and emotionless as she jumps back from Najaran and raises both arms. Even her movements are less erratic- not her usual tightly controlled pace, but an odd, unnatural stiffness, as if she was moving in her sleep.

It's not bending- not exactly. But she's seen the movement enough times, in enough variations of a certain nightmare, that she does it without even thinking. There's no calculation, no strategy, just a reflexive use of Dreamotion.

And steely spikes of ice suddenly sprout from the ground, trying to ensnare Najaran's arms and legs and keep her at bay.

[itstillhurt]

Well, he's right. Azula doesn't attack him while his back is turned.

In fact, she doesn't acknowledge him at all. She seems to simply settle back into watching the memory.

In the memory, the vision of Azula finally finishes crying, looks up at the pale boy, and hastily withdraws her hand, as if she was ashamed. As Iroh walks forward, the vision fades, leaving him alone with the present Azula in the village square.

After a moment, the dreamscape itself seems to shift subtly around him- the dragon's castle, the night of the masquerade. The night Iroh arrived. Azula doesn't seem to have come with him, he's surrounded by distant visions- memories- of the other guests.

[itstillhurt]

[The only response from the Noctaere is a grunt of pain as Kala-Nemi successfully tackles it. The voice is oddly distorted, but it certainly sounds like Azula. And as the fiery figure slams into the ground- igniting small fires around it where it lands- it's easily confirmed, as her body visible from this distance within the bird.

It doesn't stay grounded for long, however, and it suddenly breathes lightning at Kala-Nemi before rolling upright and taking flight again.]

[itstillhurt]

[The Noctaere goes high at first, wary of another counterattack, but Toph is clearly on the defensive. It wheels around taking another pass and breathing fire at Toph, but her stone wall blocks the flames. It tries to circle around and attack from another angle, but she's clearly able to track its movements by sound now, and every time it tries, it's met with another layer of defense, until Toph is entirely shielded by slabs of rock.

A new approach, then. It circles tighter as it begins breathing another slow, steady stream of fire at the rocks themselves, trying to heat the air around her and force her out. It stays in motion, hoping to avoid another letting her track its movements, but there's only so far it can go without disengaging.]

[itstillhurt]

[The words seem to have no effect on the Noctaere, just as before. Him dropping his sword, however, seems to give it pause- and as the glow becomes visible in his eyes, it shifts tactics.

For a moment, it seems to stick to a holding pattern, circling patiently, trying to assess the change... but finally it decides to breathe more lightning toward him as it circles, now keeping a healthy distance.]

[lemoncandy]

Why do you think I need a reason?

( Shealtiel snaps it back as he walks, eyes scanning the wreckage of this place. It's familiar, even as distant as it feels; the wishes littering the floor are especially prominent in his memories. He nudges one with his foot cautiously, then lifts his gaze again to scan the area, checking for some sign of direction.

It's a dream. Where would Azula go in a dream like this? )

Azula!

( He tries calling for her, though it feels a little silly. She's here. He knows it. He, for once, did this dream thing right. )